Characters
Josie McCoy (speaking voice by Janet Waldo, singing voice by Cathy Dougher) *''Melody Valentine'' (speaking voice by Jackie Joseph, singing voice by Cheryl Ladd as Cherie Moor) *''Valerie Brown'' (speaking voice by Barbara Pariot, singing voice by Patrice Holloway) *''Alan M. Mayberry'' (voiced by Jerry Dexter) *''Alexander Cabot III'' (voiced by Casey Kasem) *''Alexandra Cabot'' (voiced by Sherry Alberoni) *''Sebastian'' (cat, voiced by Don Messick) Josie McCoy A short-haired redhead, Josie is the leader and co-founder of the Pussycats. She is the lead vocalist and plays guitar. Portrayed as a sweet, attractive, and level-headed teenage girl, Josie is usually the stable center in the middle of the chaos surrounding her band and her friends. Josie's last name was originally given as either "James" or "Jones" for much of the comic book's run. The "McCoy" surname was assigned to the character in the early 2000s, at about the time the Josie feature film went into production. Comic books reprinted in the late 2000s sometimes change the last names to the girls' names from the movie. During the early years of her comic (1963–1969), Josie dated a folk singer named Albert, while her sharp-minded friend Pepper usually dated a jock named Sock. Both boys embraced the hippie culture that was forming at the time. During and after the Josie and the Pussycats revamp, she dated Alan M. Mayberry. In the cartoon series, Josie's speaking voice was performed by Janet Waldo (the voices of Judy Jetson and Penelope Pitstop) and her singing voice was performed by Cathy Dougher. She was played by Rachael Leigh Cook in the 2001 live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie. Melody Valentine The co-founder and drummer for the Pussycats (she also sang occasional lead vocals for the TV series), Melody is a cute blonde and speaks in a sing-song voice, denoted by the musical notes in her cartoon word balloons. She is an absent-minded, bubbly sort of character often taken to using silly, nonsense language. Many of the Josie stories use Melody's sex appeal as a plot device: gags with the male characters running into trees and telephone poles or driving off the road as Melody walks by in a miniskirt were frequent in the comic stories. In the comics, her last name is sometimes given as Jones, but at other times, Josie's last name is Jones. The manga has given the name Jones to Josie, and has yet to refer to Melody by more than a single name. This confusion ended when the movie established her last name as Valentine. It may be that Josie or Melody is related to Jughead Jones, but this has yet to be revealed.[original research?] In the cartoon series, whenever the group is in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation, Melody's ears would wiggle. In the cartoon, she frequently gets brainwashed, but is already very dim-witted. Later, in the Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space series, she adopts a cute little alien named Bleep. In the cartoon series, Melody's speaking voice is performed by Jackie Joseph, and her singing voice is performed by Cherie Moor (later better known as Cheryl Ladd). She was played by Tara Reid in the live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie. Bleep's voice was done by Don Messick, the voice of Scooby-Doo, Astro, Dr. Benton Quest, Boo Boo, and more. Valerie Brown A headstrong young lady, Valerie performs back-up vocals (in the comics, cartoons, and the movie) and occasionally sings lead (nearly always in the TV series) for the Pussycats. In the comics and the movie, she plays the bass; in the cartoons, she plays tambourine. She is also the group's main songwriter, and is occasionally seen playing different instruments. She is the character who saves the day the most often, thanks to her street smarts and her mechanical and scientific genius. Valerie is the first African-American female cartoon character on a regular animated television series.[citation needed] In the comic book, she replaced Pepper, a sharp-minded spectacled brunette. Valerie is more tomboyish than her two bandmates. Her last name in the comics was originally given as "Smith". The last names McCoy, Valentine and Brown were assigned to the characters for the 2001 Josie feature film. However, Archie Comics would later acknowledge these names as canonical. In the cartoon series, she's a genius, similar to Velma from Scooby-Doo. Valerie's speaking voice is performed by Barbara Pariot, and her singing voice is performed, until her death on October 2006, by Patrice Holloway, sister of Motown recording artist Brenda Holloway. She was played by Rosario Dawson in the live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie. Alexander Cabot III Rich, snobbish, temperamental, and cowardly, Alexander, the twin brother of Alexandra, is the Pussycats' shifty and not-too-dependable manager. He often gets the group in hot water because of his crazy promotional schemes. Alexander wears sunglasses often and likes to flaunt his wealth, typically dressing in flamboyant and expensive clothing. In the comics, he has a crush on Josie and is often trying to find ways to divert her attention from her boyfriend, Alan M., though he has also shown interest in Melody when Josie is unavailable (particularly in the original She's Josie comics). His personality is markedly different in the animated series; he is much friendlier (though no more dependable and far more cowardly than the comics version), and most often serves as a comedic foil for Alexandra's constant scheming. The animated version of Alexander also exhibits no romantic feelings towards Josie, but instead sometimes seems to have a thing for Melody. In one episode #9 "Plateau of the Apes Plot" Alexander gets turned into a chicken! and then into an ape; at the end his bragging of saving everyone gets on Alexandria nerves so much she hits him in the face with a banana! The comic book version of Alexander is reminiscent of Archie Andrews's rival Reggie Mantle, while the cartoon version of him is very similar to Scooby-Doo's pal Shaggy. In fact, the animated depiction of Alexander is voiced by Casey Kasem, who also voiced Shaggy. In a 1973 Josie-guested episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Alexander and Shaggy both appear on-screen together for quite some time. Alexander was played by Paulo Costanzo in the 2001 live-action motion picture. Alan M. Mayberry Alan M. Mayberry (known as "Alan M." in the comics, and as simply "Alan" in the cartoon series) is a tall, blond, muscular folk singer who serves as the Pussycats' roadie. He is also Josie's on-off boyfriend, but Alexandra is constantly trying to win a date with him. In the comics, he replaced the fun-loving but sensitive guitarist Albert, Josie's former boyfriend and Alex's former rival. In his first appearance, the creators tried to give him and Alex their own band, The Jesters, but it did not last beyond one issue, and the comic took a different direction. In the cartoon series, he plays the role of the self-appointed group leader, similar to that of Fred from Scooby-Doo (and perhaps not coincidentally does bear some resemblance to him as well). His and Alex's characters were somewhat changed for the cartoon to make them more like the male characters from Scooby Doo in an attempt to recapture its success. His animated persona is voiced by Jerry Dexter. He was played by Gabriel Mann in the live-action film. Alexandra Cabot and Sebastian the Cat Alexandra is technically a supporting character, but often overshadows the rest of the cast in both the comics and the cartoons. She is the twin sister of Alexander Cabot III. Alexandra has black hair with a white lightning-bolt shaped stripe running through the middle of it (her ponytail gives a slight impression of a skunk's tail because of this stripe). In contrast to the good-natured girls in the Pussycats, Alexandra is cynical, hateful, mean, offensive, rude, scheming and self-centered. She is insanely jealous of the Pussycats (especially Josie, about whom she never has a kind word). Although Alexandra desperately wants to be the star of the band (and to rename it as "Alexandra's Cool Time Cats"), she is talentless and can't sing or play well at all. Although the comic relief equivalent of Dick Dastardly -in which her plans to embarrass Josie fail, in one episode #8 "Never Mind a Mastermind" its Alexandria who saves the heroes by using a anti-gravity gun against the crooks. In the last episode # 16 "Don't Count on a Countess" is unusual in that while the gang is in the clutches of a mad scientist--but is not the result of Alexandria's meddling! Alexandra has a serious crush on Alan M., and often tries to steal him away from Josie. Although she is not particularly fond of her cowardly brother, Alexandra often joins forces with him to separate Alan M. and Josie (so that Alex can go for Josie and Alexandra can go for Alan M). Her personality in the cartoon is largely unchanged, and while Alexander tends to irritate her with his cowardice and his other personality quirks, she has defended him on occasion, too. The animated version of Alexander doesn't participate in his sister's schemes to break up Josie and Alan. Alexandra also has a Tuxedo cat named Sebastian. In the comics, Sebastian is the reincarnation of a witchcraft-practicing ancestor of the Cabot family, Sebastian Cabot. Alexandra finds that, by holding her cat in her arms, she can cast powerful magic spells (Alexandra and Sebastian's bond is represented in that they both have a matching white stripe in their middle of their hair/fur). However, this plot device is used very rarely, and Alexandra has also been shown to be able to cast spells without Sebastian being around. In the cartoons, Alexandra and Sebastian do not have magic powers. Sebastian is the comic relief sidekick equivalent to Muttley of Dick Dastardly. Alexandra's voice in the cartoons is provided by former Mouseketeer Sherry Alberoni, while Don Messick supplies the meows, screams, and Muttley-esque snickers for Sebastian. Alexandra was played by Missi Pyle in the live-action Josie and the Pussycats movie, while Sebastian does not appear in the live-action film. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Josie_hb.jpg Category:Characters Category:Main Characters